Hey y’all — I’m Chelsea VonChaz, and Menärchē is my offering to the culture.
I created this space because I wanted a home for everything I live and love: wellness, spirituality, storytelling, and unapologetic care for Black women and people with periods. Menärchē is where reproductive justice meets ancestral wisdom — a space rooted in truth, rhythm, and ritual.
This is a digital space to talk about:
Menstruation and womb care from a culturally grounded, non-medical lens
Period justice, body literacy, and holistic reproductive education
Beauty, adornment, and spiritual hygiene — especially for those of us with locs, lineage, and lifestyle
Natural products, low-tox living, and sacred routines
Black girlhood, Southern spirituality, and stories passed down through bloodline and dream
And through my series The Practice of a Hoodoo Baptist, I speak my spiritual truth as someone raised Baptist andborn into Hoodoo tradition
Menärchē is for those of us who were never given the full story — about our bodies, our power, or our lineage.
I’m here to tell it. Unashamed. Unmasked. Uncolonized.
What is Menärchē?
Menärchē connects people with vaginas to health information and content that reflects their lived experiences. Think of the newsletter as a semi-monthly guide to body literacy - in your inbox.
What does Menärchē mean?
Menärchē [ muh-nahr-kee] - the establishment of menstruation.
Mission
My mission is to educate, inspire, and create a digital community with a collective vision for wellness and advancement. I promise to deliver curated, expert-vetted content, rooted in storytelling, spiritual insight, and unapologetic compassion for Black and Indigenous women and femmes. All that I ask is for you to share your thoughts, stories, and any achievements you reached as a result of reading the newsletter or using any of the resources. That motivates me deeply.
Podcast
The Practice of a Hoodoo Baptist — a podcast where I share personal stories, reflections, and teachings from my spiritual path as a Black woman raised in the southern church and the tradition. It’s about breaking the stigma around Black spirituality and reclaiming what was once silenced.
I come from a lineage of people who practiced Hoodoo with quiet power. I’m a descendant of free Creole, Black Americans, and Native peoples. My family never called it a “practice” — but they lived it every day. With discernment. With prayer. With spirit.
Here, you’ll find spoken and written reflections on faith, rootwork, protection, menstruation, spiritual maturity, dreams, and ancestral wisdom. I speak from my own lived experience as a Black girl raised in the Bible Belt, a period doula, and a woman who lives her spirituality without shame or separation.
This series is my way of continuing that work, out loud. This is power.
Covered by spirit. Guided by blood.
Why subscribe?
I promise to make this digital space as womb centered as possible. Key principles I believe in for this newsletter are liberation, holistic living, and sacredness.
Subscribe if you’re ready for wellness that’s rooted, spiritual care that’s real, and storytelling that centers Black women with truth and tenderness. From period power to ancestral practice, I’m sharing what was once silenced — so we can all live more whole, more free, and more sacred.
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a remembering. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
Give grace and stay up-to-date
My intention is for the newsletter to go live semi-monthly, and the podcast releases weekly. If you don’t see a post every two weeks, don’t panic. Please just give me grace and support with a note, message, or share. The demand, support, and encouragement keeps me going, especially when life offline starts retrograding. Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app.
Sponsorship
Do you have a product or service that you’d like to share with Menärche? Interested in sponsorship or advertising opportunities to reach the cöllective?! Simply email me with full details or any questions you may have at business@itsmenarche.com.
Consider doing a Peer Review
Have you recently tried out a new period product, health trend, or period hack? Do you have some thoughts about a service or product you tried? Simply email or message me. If it’s cool with you, your review might be featured in an upcoming post or note!
Have any feedback or a question you want answered by an expert?
Join the Cöllective. Pledge!
Do you like Menärchē? 💌 Please consider pledging and joining the collective. Also, I’d like your support to reach even more people who would love the newsletter. Please feel free to forward the site or sign-up page to a friend you think would appreciate this community. I’m so grateful when anyone spreads the word about what I do - it makes all the difference! Feel free to share, participate in the chat, comments section, or support this work however you’re moved to. I appreciate you.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
